Coach Bobby Bowden announced his decision at a booster luncheon on Monday.

Rix, who is Bowden's first-ever four-year starter, became Division I-A's only quarterback to go 0-5 against the same school after failing to lead the offense to a touchdown in Friday night's loss at the Orange Bowl.

"People want to give up on Chris," Bowden said. "I'm hoping that's his bad one for the year."

Rix completed 12 of 28 passes for 108 yards, threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles, including a critical one in overtime in the 16-10 loss. He ranks 10th in the Atlantic Coast Conference's passing statistics with a 61.0 efficiency ranking.

"It's way too early to panic," added Bowden, who has spent most of the past three autumns defending Rix, now 24-11 in four seasons leading the Seminoles, who dropped from No. 4 to 8 in the latest media poll. "It's not time."

Bowden was quick to remind Florida State fans in the audience that the Seminoles ran the table in 1988 after losing their opener to Miami. Florida State finished No. 3 in the AP rankings that season.

"We've been there before," Bowden said. "The only thing that game the other night proved was we're not going to have a perfect season."

Bowden also has few alternatives as no other quarterback on the Seminoles roster has ever started a game or seen any significant playing time. Backup Wyatt Sexton was 3-of-5 for 45 yards in limited mop-up duty last season.

Fabian Walker, who had backed up Rix the previous two seasons, transferred to Valdosta State over the summer.

However, Bowden conceded he had thought about playing the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Sexton, a 4.0 student and the son of running backs coach Billy Sexton.

"We definitely need to get him some action," Bowden said. "I've got to get him into a game."